Callie had come upstairs to change into her pyjamas when she heard Mariana crying in her bedroom. Slipping through the door and pushing it shut behind her, she sat down on the edge of the bed and placed her hand against the small of her foster sister's back.

Mariana was laid down, face buried in her pillow as she tried to get rid of all the guilt she felt.

"I know you're blaming yourself for this, but you shouldn't, okay?" Callie offered quietly.

"Mom literally wouldn't have been there if it wasn't for me! Of course, I'm to blame!" Mariana exclaimed in response, lifting her head to draw a breath before flopping back down.

"Listen to me, there is only one person to blame for this. Nothing matters apart from the fact that a terrible man shot a gun at your Mom, you are not him so this is not on you, okay?" Callie insisted, hand still rubbing Mariana's cotton-clad back soothingly. "It's fine if you don't believe me, but Stef is going to tell you the exact same thing when she wakes up."

Mariana's crying quietened though she continued to sniffle as she readjusted herself on the bed she was sat beside Callie cross-legged.

"Mama blames me, I know she does. I could tell from the second Mike called her that she was never going to look at me the same again," Mariana mumbled sadly, lips puckered. "Not that I hold it against her, even I blame me."

"Mariana, I promise you that Lena is just upset and worried about Stef and that as soon as everything is sorted, she'll talk to you about all of this and things will get back to normal. She loves you, and she knows that you would never do anything to hurt Stef. Come on, I'm making everyone cocoa and we're gonna snuggle up on the sofa since nobody's going to sleep anyway."

"Is Brandon getting down the blow up mattresses?" Mariana questioned, receiving a gentle nod from Callie as she dropped her head against the older girl's shoulder. "He's mad at me too, I know he apologized but it was only because you told him to, he's still angry."

Moving slightly on the bed, Callie wrapped her arms around the girl that she had come to consider a good friend. They had certainly had their differences, but Mariana only ever meant well and it broke Callie's heart to see her beating herself up over this.

Lena was still at the hospital, Jude had arrived home less than an hour ago and he was sat on the sofa playing video games on Callie's phone, and the boys were trying to set up some sort of bedding arrangement in the living room. Everyone knew what they were doing, but Mariana was left wondering where she fit in.

"She's gonna be okay, y'know?" The brunette offered up, an empty promise wrapped in kind intentions that did nothing to calm Mariana's nerves.

"She got shot. She'll never be okay again."

Pulling the smaller girl tight against her, Callie held her snugly there in the knowledge that what Mariana really needed right now was to feel safe. Years in the system hadn't done much, but they had taught her how to make somebody feel safe.

She pressed a kiss against the younger girl's hairline and rubbed her arm reassuringly before drawing back and standing up.

"I'm going to change, and then we are going to go downstairs and try to get some sleep and in the morning, we will wake up, and go to the hospital, and you will see that Stef is entirely okay."

Mariana smiled at the sight of Callie, grabbing her pyjamas from the bottom of her bed and hurrying into the bathroom. She really did think of her as a sister now.

She reached for the teddy bear that hid beneath her pillow, stopping short and instead leaning under her bed to grab the Disney raccoon which her Moms had given her on their first Christmas with them. Drawing in a deep breath, she ran her hands over her cheeks in the hopes of getting rid of some of the redness that would give her away.

Just as she did, Callie re-entered the room clad in pyjamas and a half-hearted smile.

"Cocoa?" The brunette offered warmly as she made for the door, Mariana following closely behind her.

Ten minutes later, the five of them were curled up under a heap of blankets on the living room floor with the TV playing a kids' movie that none of them had heard of with cups of steaming cocoa in their hands.

Nobody really slept that night, though Jesus got a couple of hours that kept everybody else awake with his snoring. Mariana laid there in silence, Callie on one side of her and Jesus on the other, and she dwelled on all the things that she could've done differently.

Callie had told her that it wasn't her fault, and she wanted to believe her more than anything, but she couldn't bring herself to. Not yet.

The next morning, when they left for the hospital, Mariana kept a tight hold of Callie's hand all the way to the hospital, and even when they arrived she was reluctant to let go. They were sisters, as far as Mariana was concerned, because only a sibling could make her feel as safe as Callie had last night.

Even amongst the fear of facing her mothers, despite the looming promise of her own criticism, Callie made her feel like nothing was going to go wrong anymore.